Search

We propose an approach for achieving ground-state cooling of a nanomechanical resonator (NAMR) capacitively coupled to a triple quantum dot (TQD). This TQD is an electronic analog of a three-level atom in $\Lambda$ configuration which allows an electron to enter it via lower-energy states and to exit only from a higher-energy state. By tuning the degeneracy of the two lower-energy states in the TQD, an electron can be trapped in a dark state caused by destructive quantum interference between the two tunneling pathways to the higher-energy state. Therefore, ground-state cooling of an NAMR can be achieved when electrons absorb readily and repeatedly energy quanta from the NAMR for excitations., Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures

We propose a current correlation spectrum approach to probe the quantum behaviors of a nanome-chanical resonator (NAMR). The NAMR is coupled to a double quantum dot (DQD), which acts as a quantum transducer and is further coupled to a quantum-point contact (QPC). By measuring the current correlation spectrum of the QPC, shifts in the DQD energy levels, which depend on the phonon occupation in the NAMR, are determined. Quantum behaviors of the NAMR could, thus, be observed. In particular, the cooling of the NAMR into the quantum regime could be examined. In addition, the effects of the coupling strength between the DQD and the NAMR on these energy shifts are studied. We also investigate the impacts on the current correlation spectrum of the QPC due to the backaction from the charge detector on the DQD., Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures

We propose an approach to cool a mechanical resonator (MR) via quantum interference in a triple quantum dot (TQD) capacitively coupled to the MR. The TQD connected to three electrodes is an electronic analog of a three-level atom in $\Lambda$ configuration. The electrons can tunnel from the left electrode into one of the two dots with lower-energy states, but can only tunnel out from the higher-energy state at the third dot to the right electrode. When the two lower-energy states are tuned to be degenerate, an electron in the TQD can be trapped in a superposition of the degenerate states called the dark state. This effect is caused by the destructive quantum interference between tunneling from the two lower-energy states to the higher-energy state. Under this condition, an electron in the dark state readily absorbs an energy quantum from the MR. Repeating this process, the MR can be cooled to its ground state. Moreover, we propose a scheme for verifying the cooling result by measuring the current spectrum of a charge detector adjacent to a double quantum dot coupled to the MR., Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures

We develop a master equation approach to study the backaction of quantum point contact (QPC) on a double quantum dot (DQD) at zero bias voltage. We reveal why electrons can pass through the zero-bias DQD only when the bias voltage across the QPC exceeds a threshold value determined by the eigenstate energy difference of the DQD. This derived excitation condition agrees well with experiments on QPC-induced inelastic electron tunneling through a DQD [S. Gustavsson et al., Phys. Rev. Lett. 99, 206804(2007)]. Moreover, we propose a new scheme to generate a pure spin current by the QPC in the absence of a charge current., Comment: 6 pages, 4 figures

We study shot noise in tunneling current through a double quantum dot connected to two electric leads. We derive two master equations in the occupation-state basis and the eigenstate basis to describe the electron dynamics. The approach based on the occupation-state basis, despite widely used in many previous studies, is valid only when the interdot coupling strength is much smaller than the energy difference between the two dots. In contrast, the calculations using the eigenstate basis are valid for an arbitrary interdot coupling. We show that the master equation in the occupation-state basis includes only the low-order terms with respect to the interdot coupling compared with the more accurate master equation in the eigenstate basis. Using realistic model parameters, we demonstrate that the predicted currents and shot-noise properties from the two approaches are significantly different when the interdot coupling is not small. Furthermore, properties of the shot noise predicted using the eigenstate basis successfully reproduce qualitative features found in a recent experiment., Comment: 13 pages, 5 figures

We study the dynamics of a single electron spin in a double quantum dot (DQD) and its readout via a quantum point contact (QPC). We model the system microscopically and derive rate equations for the reduced electron density matrix of the DQD. Two cases with one and two electrons in the DQD are studied. In the one-electron case, with different Zeeman splittings in the two dots, the electron spin states are distinctly characterized by a constant and an oscillatory current through the QPC. In the two-electron case, the readout of the spin state of the electron in one of the dots called the qubit dot is essentially similar after considering hyperfine interactions between the electrons and the nuclear spins of the host materials and a uniform magnetic field applied to the DQD. Moreover, to ensure that an electron is properly injected into the qubit dot, we propose to determine the success of the electron injection from the variations of the QPC current after applying an oscillating magnetic field to the qubit dot., Comment: 18 pages, 7 figures

We study the cooling of a mechanical resonator (MR) that is capacitively coupled to a double quantum dot (DQD). The MR is cooled by the dynamical backaction induced by the capacitive coupling between the DQD and the MR. The DQD is excited by a microwave field and afterwards a tunneling event results in the decay of the excited state of the DQD. An important advantage of this system is that both the energy level splitting and the decay rate of the DQD can be well tuned by varying the gate voltage. We find that the steady average occupancy, below unity, of the MR can be achieved by changing both the decay rate of the excited state and the detuning between the transition frequency of the DQD and the microwave frequency, in analogy to the laser sideband cooling of an atom or trapped ion in atomic physics. Our results show that the cooling of the MR to the ground state is experimentally implementable., Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures

We study electron transport through a quantum dot, connected to non-magnetic leads, in a magnetic field. A super-Poissonian electron noise due to the effects of both interacting localized states and dynamic channel blockade is found when the Coulomb blockade is partially lifted. This is sharp contrast to the sub-Poissonian shot noise found in the previous studies for a large bias voltage, where the Coulomb blockade is completely lifted. Moreover, we show that the super-Poissonian shot noise can be suppressed by applying an electron spin resonance (ESR) driving field. For a sufficiently strong ESR driving field strength, the super-Poissonian shot noise will change to be sub-Poissonian., Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures

Coherent single electron spin oscillation in a double quantum dot system driven by a magnetic electron spin resonance field is studied theoretically using a Bloch-type rate equation approach. The oscillation frequency and relaxation time obtained using typical model parameters are consistent with experiment findings. The dominant decoherence mechanism is identified to be a leakage current through a Coulomb blockade barrier at a quantum dot during the spin manipulation. Nuclear field fluctuations which induce a long relaxation time are found to contribute only negligibly to the decoherence despite an earlier suggestion., Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures

We have studied the dissipative dynamics of a solid-state qubit with an extra electron confined to either one of two coupled quantum dots. Previous theoretical work based on Bloch-type rate equations gave an unphysical uniform occupation probability of the electron in the quantum dots even for non-identical dots. We show that this is due to neglecting higher order interactions in the analysis. By including higher order terms, we obtain expected asymmetric occupation probabilities for non-identical dots. Our work demonstrates that the high order interaction terms can lead to important qualitative impacts on the operation of the qubit., Comment: 9 pages, 2 figures